Book Review || Last Survivor By Tony Park

 A priceless plant, a rare African cycad thought to be extinct and prized by collectors, has been discovered, then stolen.

Joanne Flack, widowed and broke, is the prime suspect for the crime. While supposedly hiding out in London she single-handedly foils a terrorist plot, killing a lone-wolf gunman.

Former mercenary turned CIA contractor, Sonja Kurtz, uncovers a link between the missing plant and the terrorist who tried to kill Joanne. The US Government thinks that if it can find the missing cycad it can foil an attack to rival 9-11.

Hot on Joanne's trail is retired US Fisheries and Wildlife Department special agent Rod Cavanagh who knows his plants and knows his target - he's her former lover.

Joanne is a member of the Pretoria Cycad and Firearms Appreciation Society. She, Sonja and Rod enlist the help of this group of ageing gardeners and gun nuts to find a plant worth a fortune and the traitor in their midst who is willing to kill for it.

While Last Survivor is the forth book in the Sonja Kurtz series,  it can without a doubt be read as a stand alone book - as I have done!

This follows the mystery surrounding a missing - and very rare - cycad which has been stolen from under the noses of the Pretoria Cycad & Firearms Appreciation Society, a group of liked-minded plant and also firearms group who were trusted to look after it. Joanne Flack is the one who first realized what the plant was while working for a Saudi prince and is also the one accused of stealing it, especially since she gone on the run, first to London and has a run in with some terrorists, then back to Africa and, alongside Sonja Kurtz, goes into hiding while also figuring out who actually stole the cycad. 

This really is a multi layered book as you do follow a few stories as it is written from multiple character's points of view but they do all join up in some way to give satisfying ending. It is quite a fast paced read with lots of action throughout which ultimately lead to the main showdown - a definite good v bad kind of thing! Even though it is written from different points of view, Tony Park made it incredibly easy to follow along and also link all these characters together to create a truly gripping storyline.

*Book sent for review, all opinions are my own